Towards the Sun
by WordAddict618
Summary: When Mabel hears Dr. Doofenshmirtz's backstory, she decides something needs to be done. If that something ends up being dragging Heinz all the way to City Hall so the brothers can talk it out, well, she's seen it all before. Grudge holding family members are nothing new for her, and with Perry's help she's sure she can fix these broken teacups.
1. don't let the fire die

"Hey, Ferb, I know what we're going to do today!"

Perry smiled to himself, looking out the window to the backyard where Phineas and Ferb were sitting under the tree. Ducking down from the windowsill, he lifted up Phineas' bed and jumped onto the pneumatic tube underneath. Everything was lining up to be another perfectly normal day, judging from the way he heard Candace shouting as he slid past the first floor and down to his lair.

The last thing he was expecting to see when he dropped to his chair in front of the screen was a human girl. She was wearing the regulation fedora that marked her as an O.W.C.A agent, but she was entirely human.

"Hi," she said with a grin, sticking out a hand. "I'm Mabel Pines, but you can call me Agent M."

Perry shook her hand and tipped his hat.

"Do you like my sweater?" she asked, doing a quick twirl. "I made it myself." It was the same brown as her standard-issue fedora and had a picture of a pig on it.

In front of them, Major Monogram cleared his throat. "Hello, Agent P," he said. "As you know, we've recently introduced a few human agents to the Agency and – " He frowned as Perry shook his head. "What? Carl, why didn't he know?"

"Sorry, sir," Carl said. "It was a last minute – "

"Well anyway," the major continued, cutting off the end of Carl's sentence, "we've decided to assign Agent M here to you for training. She's new, from the California division. Now, get out there and see what Doofenshmirtz is up to!"

Saluting, Perry motioned Mabel to the hovercar. It was a little too small for her, but she folded her knees against her chest and tucked her pink purse under the seat. "This is amazing," she said as Perry started the engine and a panel slid open in the ceiling. "What kind of contractors did you get to build this place?"

"So where are we headed?" Mabel asked Perry as he steered towards the D.E.I building. "Are we putting anyone in jail? Are we qualified to make arrests? Does that even matter?"

Looping around the building to land on the balcony, Perry put a finger to his bill. Mabel fell silent as they landed and Perry felt around for traps. There were none on the balcony so, waving a hand for Mabel to follow him, he flattened himself against the wall and began to edge inside.

 _Snap!_ Handcuffs shot out of the wall, immobilizing Perry. Standing in the centre of the room, Dr. Doofenshmirtz stuck a remote back inside his lab coat. "Oh, hello, Perry the Platypus," he said. "How very unexpected of you, and, by unexpected, of course I mean completely expected."

Perry chattered in surprise at the fact that Heinz hadn't mentioned his partner yet. Looking around, he was surprised to see that Mabel was nowhere in sight.

Heinz frowned. "Are you looking for someone, Perry the Platypus? Well, it doesn't matter. Do you want to know why?" He took a step to the side, revealing his latest invention. "Behold, the Imitator-Inator!"

From above Perry, there was a low whistle and a few flakes of glitter drifted down to land in front of him. Looking up, he saw Mabel laying on one of the exposed metal beams. Returning her smile, he gave her a quick thumbs-up before returning his attention to the monologuing scientist.

"You remember my brother Roger, right?" Heinz asked rhetorically, gesturing to a slideshow against the far wall that was playing familiar images of his childhood backstory. "Well, I came up with a plan to finally get my revenge on him!"

Seeing movement above him, Perry chattered to Mabel to stay still until the backstory and monologue was finished. The message must have translated because she stopped moving.

"What are you looking at, Perry the Platypus?" Heinz asked in confusion. "Is there something up there?" He craned his neck for a moment. "I don't see anything," he mumbled after a moment. "Anyway, the Imitator-Inator will make me look like just like Roger and then I'll walk into City Hall and they'll give the city to me because they'll think I'm him. I'll take over his life and then he'll know what it's like to be the unwanted sibling! Isn't it a great plan? So much evil potential!"

Hearing a soft _clang_ of metal on metal, Perry looked up to where Mabel was now standing on the beam. Jumping, she sailed through the air in a perfect parabolic arch, her feet making contact with the exact centre of Heinz's chest. There was a _click_ and Perry's handcuffs released.

"Grappling hook!" Mabel shouted, dropping to the floor. "Best tool ever!"

"Who's this?" Heinz asked, still lying on the floor. "Perry the Platypus, do you have a partner again?"

Perry nodded, pointing to her fedora. Mabel stuck her grappling hook back in her purse, frowning at Heinz. "We have to talk about your plan," she said. "Mabel Pines, at your service."

Standing up, Heinz crossed his arms. "There's nothing to talk about," he insisted it. "It's the perfect way for me to get revenge on my brother. From there, it's just a small step to taking over the Tri-State Area." Looking at Perry, he raised an eyebrow. "Perry the Platypus, didn't you tell her the rules?"

Perry shrugged. It wasn't his job to brief the new recruits, and as long as she didn't pull a Peter the Panda, he didn't see a reason to stop her.

"Oh well," Heinz said, waving his hand. "Back to my plan." Grabbing the –Inator, he swiveled it around to face his nemesis. Perry crouched into a fighting stance and jumped at the invention, knocking it backwards onto the balcony. With a shout of protest, Heinz started to run after it, only to be stopped by a cloud of glitter.

"Awesome, it still works!" Mabel cheered. Pulling out her grappling hook, she fired it around Heinz, wrapping it around him until he was securely tied.

Perry gave her thumbs-up and pushed the –Inator to the edge of the balcony, pressing the self-destruct button as he tipped it over the edge. It exploded as it fell, firing a single beam of green light over the horizon.

"Thanks, Agent P," Mabel said. She looked between the immobilized scientist and Perry. "Now what do we do?"

Perry pointed to the hovercar still parked on the balcony.

"We're just going to leave?" Mabel frowned. "That doesn't seem right."

Heinz rolled his eyes. "You ruined my evil scheme and unfortunately I don't have anything else planned for today," he said, his voice slightly muffled. "Today just isn't a two-scheme day."

Mabel pulled up her sleeve, checking her bedazzled watch. "It's only eleven o'clock," she mused. "Agent P, what time do we have to be done here?"

Perry shrugged. Schemes didn't have any set time, even if most of them did take less than twenty minutes to foil. He frowned at the look Mabel got in her eyes at his answer.

"Okay, then." Retracting her grappling hook she unwrapped Heinz, spinning him around several times in the process. With the hand that wasn't holding the grappling hook, she grabbed the sleeve of his lab coat. "Careful," she said, still looking at Perry. "How's your schedule, Agent P?"

Frowning curiously, Perry pointed at his own watch. They had all the time they needed, although Major Monogram would start asking questions if he stayed overnight again and that wasn't something he needed.

Letting go of Heinz's sleeve, Mabel rubbed her hands together in a gesture that didn't seem, from Perry's limited experience of her, very Mabel-like. "Perfect!" Looking around, she pointed to Heinz's living room area. "It's time to talk it out."

"Talk what out?" Heinz asked, in unison with Perry. "I don't need to talk anything out."

Looking at the slideshow that was looping for the third time, Mabel raised an eyebrow. "I come from a family that practically makes an art out of lying about their emotions, and let me tell you, that was awful."

Crossing his arms and raising his chin, Heinz looked away and directly at Perry. "She's crazy, Perry the Platypus. You're my nemesis, you know I don't have anything to talk about."

Perry looked between the two humans before chattering in defeat. Grabbing Heinz's hand, he led him over to the living room area. He knew when he was beat, and hopefully this would be a less painful experience than Dr. Feelbetter.

Sitting on the couch beside Heinz, he watched as Mabel sat down across from them, pulling yarn and knitting needles out of her purse. "Now," she said, looping teal yarn over her needles, "I'm not your usual nemesis, Dr. D and I would love to hear your backstory for myself."

"Well, it all started when both my parents failed to show up for my birth," Heinz explained, launching into his exhaustive backstory. Mabel listened to it all calmly, the knitted creation she was making growing steadily, and when he was done she folded her hands in her lap.

"I think I know what you need to do," she said with a small smile.

"What?" Heinz asked. "Do you know what's going on?" he asked Perry.

Perry shook his head. Looking at Mabel, he raised an eyebrow to ask if she knew what she was doing. The scheme had already been foiled, and while he wasn't exactly the best example of properly executed agent-nemesis boundaries he wondered if this was crossing a line.

His train of thought was disrupted when Mabel threw a sweater at Heinz. "Oh, and this is yours. It looks chilly outside and we're going for a bit of a walk."

"What is this?"

Perry chattered in agreement, taking in the sweater. It was a black sweater with a picture of him on it, fedora and all. While it wasn't the worst rendition of himself he had ever seen, especially in yarn, it wasn't something he'd expect his nemesis to wear.

Mabel shrugged, smiling. "You two have a vibe, I can feel it. Sweaters help people bond." Slinging her purse back over her shoulder she started walking to the door, her steps bouncy.

Getting up, Perry started following his partner. An expression he had heard Lawrence use a couple of days ago ran through his mind and he thought it was oddly fitting to the situation at hand. _In for a penny, in for a pound._

"Where are we going?" Heinz asked, his words muffled. Perry looked back over his shoulder and raised both eyebrows, chattering in surprise. "What?" the scientist asked defensively, adjusting the hem of his new sweater. "She's right, you know. It's probably cold out there."

Shaking his head, Perry trailed after his nemesis as the two of them followed Mabel out the door and down the street. He had no idea where this new agent had come from, but the Agency could probably stand to hire a few more like her in his opinion. She was rather effective, even if her methods were unconventional.


	2. when the ashes and embers are cold

"Why are we here?" Heinz asked. "Did you not listen to my entire evil backstory? Most of it was about him!" he complained, pointing to the door embossed with _Mayor Roger Doofenshmirtz._

"Of course I listened," Mabel said. Turning to face Heinz, her expression turned serious. "Just trust me on this, okay?"

Looking at Perry, Heinz grumbled under his breath for a moment before crossing his arms. "Fine," he said, slouching more than normal. He had no idea why he was trusting this strange, glittery secret agent but after telling her his entire backstory he figured she was sort of entitled to a little bit of trust.

"Thank you," Mabel nodded, knocking on the door.

A _very_ little bit of trust, Heinz amended as Roger opened the door with his trademark smile firmly in place.

"Hello, Heinz," Roger greeted. "What brings you here today?"

"Well, to be honest, I have no idea."

Mabel answered, holding out her hand. "Hi, I'm Mabel. I met Heinz today and I think there're some broken teacups here that need to be fixed."

"I beg your pardon?" Roger asked, looking at her over the top of his tinted glasses.

Heinz sighed, turning around. "Okay, time to go," he said to no one in particular, turning to walk back out of City Hall. A hand grabbed his collar, stopping him in his tracks.

"Nope," Mabel said, turning him around with practically no effort. "Too late to back out now."

Somehow Heinz found himself sitting in the mayor's office, staring at his brother. Taking the chair next to him, Mabel pulled another ball of yarn out of her purse.

"So, what brings you to City Hall?" Roger asked again.

Heinz shrugged again and Mabel looked up. "I brought him here."

"That doesn't explain why you're sitting in my office," Roger said, his words starting to lose their charming edge. "Heinz, is this another one of your half-baked plans?"

"Not anymore," Mabel said, cutting off Heinz's flustered reply. "And to answer your question Mr. Mayor, we're here to discuss some family history."

Heinz sighed loudly, and Roger's tone sounded like he was trying to avoid doing the same. "I'm afraid I have absolutely no interest in something like that, Miss Pines."

The sound of Mabel's knitting needles increased and she answered coolly, "I don't think I gave you a choice."

Heinz glared at her but she didn't look at him or Roger, instead staring into space. "Mr. Doofenshmirtz, I've seen this type of thing before and it took the end of the world to resolve it to where it could be dealt with. Luckily, I don't think Danville has a world-ending snowglobe so that's not a concern." She paused for a moment to let her words sink in. "The end of the world, I mean, not your relationship with your brother. That's still a repairable problem."

Heinz snorted. "What relationship?" he asked, sitting up slightly. "He's always had everything handed to him on a silver platter and never shared. End of story." He felt the rush of anger that hadn't really cooled since he had finished his backstory start to heat up again.

"Now, Heinz, you know that isn't true," Roger said lightly. "Just because you couldn't kick a ball – "

"It was a lot more than that," Heinz accused harshly, cutting off the end of his brother's sentence. "It wasn't just the kickball and you know it."

Roger sighed heavily. "I don't think this will work, Miss Pines," he said to Mabel. "Maybe some things just aren't meant to be," he said almost regretfully.

"You're right," Mabel agreed, much to Heinz's surprise. "Some things _aren't_ meant to be." Her tone grew harder. "However, you two," she pointed between the brothers, "are not one of those things. Now, let's try this again."

The silence was much longer this time, stretching out between the three occupants of the room like thread rolling off a spool. Heinz shifted uncomfortably in his chair, wishing for Perry the Platypus. He hadn't seen his nemesis since they had arrived at City Hall and there was a strange absence that he could feel in the middle of the deafening silence.

It was strange how, for an animal that didn't talk, Perry had crept into his life so absolutely.

Finally the silence was broken by Roger. "Listen, Heinz, I'm not sure what you want from me."

"An apology would be nice." Heinz found himself saying.

"For what?"

It was the exact wrong thing to say and Mabel tensed at the words, her needles slipping and throwing a stitch. Heinz stood up, planting both hands on his brother's desk. "Oh, like you don't know," he snapped. "What about the dresses I had to wear – "

"You want me to apologize for being born?"

" – or the way you stole Mother for yourself – "

"That was _not_ my fault."

" – or being the best at absolutely everything!"

"For the last time, Dad decided you would be the family lawn gnome, not me!"

Heinz sat back down, crossing his arms, and silence fell again, even louder than before. Mabel's ball of yarn ran out and she started a new one. The sound of the clock hanging on the wall over the door sounded like a hammer stroke every time it ticked.

"You know I'm still your brother, right?" Roger finally spoke.

Heinz huffed, crossing his arms again. "I know," he said, an unspoken _and I don't know if I want you to be_ attached to the end. He had never come out and said it, but it had occurred to him several times if maybe life would have been better if he and Roger had grown up in different homes.

Roger tapped his fingers on the desk for a moment before speaking again. "Things have always come easily to me, I suppose, " he said, half to himself. Heinz opened his mouth, but Mabel poked him in the arm with her knitting needle and shook her head at him. "Still, I suppose I _am_ sorry for what happened to you while we were growing up."

 _What happened to you._ It was a short sentence, but it felt like a brush-off, as if his brother was sweeping everything under the rug. It was exactly the type of apology he had been expecting, and Heinz wasn't sure why he asked in the first place. He was the one skeleton in the closet of his Hercules of a brother and that's how it would always be.

Heinz sighed, tapping his fingers on his arm. "Why?" he asked finally, the question clawing it way out of his mouth. It was a simple question, but it ran much deeper than the surface.

"No," Mabel said and Heinz jumped, having nearly forgotten her presence. She shook one knitting needle at Roger. "Don't say it."

"What was I going to say?" Roger asked, raising his eyebrow, his words clipped.

"You and I both know," Mabel replied calmly, "and you need to not say it."

"Fine." There was a beat of quiet and then he spoke again. "Would you believe me if I told you that I didn't know?"

"No." Heinz snapped. "How could I? You always took everything for yourself."

Roger sighed. "What could I have done differently, Heinz?" The tension stretched between them like a thread made of glass. "I was a child."

Heinz opened his mouth and shut it again. So that was the justification he was hiding behind. Another wave of anger rushed through him, and he felt three words burn through the air between them. _So was I._ He knew there were reasons his parents had treated him the way they had; tradition, perhaps, or more likely probably just necessity. Still, it hurt to hear Roger brush it off like it meant nothing when there was _so much_ he could have done.

Beside him, Mabel sighed before putting her knitting down. "Listen, I think we need to get one thing straight," she said seriously. "Both of you have messed up, but some of this is the fault of neither of you. Becoming a lawn gnome," she pointed at Heinz, "not your brother's fault. Definitely a horrible thing to have happen to you, but not his fault. It's also not his fault he got elected to city office, all right? Mind-control ties aside, that isn't something you can assign singular blame for."

"I suppose," Heinz agreed grudgingly.

Mabel nodded encouragingly. "Okay, I think you can work on the rest of it now."

There was a sudden knock on the door and Heinz jumped. A new voice filtered through the door. "Mr. Doofenshmirtz, I'm leaving now. Would you like the new proposals?"

"Just a second, Melanie," Roger called, getting up and crossing his office to the door. "Thank you," he said, taking the documents she was holding.

"You are going home soon, right Mr. Doofenshmirtz?" Melanie asked.

"Of course," Roger assured her. "I'll lock up when I'm done here."

Melanie smiled thinly. "All right then. Is that a platypus?" she asked as Roger stepped back to close the door.

Roger frowned, looking behind him. "Oh, that's my brother's pet," he said after a moment, closing the door.

Heinz huffed. "He's not my pet," he said defensively, before the words sunk in fully. Looking around, he studied the corners of his brother's office. From beneath the desk, there was a chatter, and he looked down to see Perry the Platypus giving him a thumbs-up and what looked like a smile on his bill. "Oh, there you are, Perry the Platypus."

"All right then," Roger said, shuffling the papers and setting them on the corner of the desk. "He _is_ with you though."

"Both of us," Mabel interjected. "I work with him."

"Work with him?" Roger asked, surprised. "You are aware he tries to take over the city almost every week?" he said, ignoring Heinz.

Mabel shook her head. "Not with Dr. D, with the platypus."

"You do know he's a platypus. They don't do much."

Heinz opened his mouth, but Mabel poked him again. "That's what people always say. Animals are a lot more interesting than you'd think."

"Well, all right," Roger said uncertainly.

"Like my pig, Waddles," she continued. "Now that he's all grown up, some people say he's just lazy but that's not true! He just needs to stay home more to work on his marriage, that's all!" She bundled what looked like a finished sweater into her bag and started a new colour of yarn. "I mean, it takes a lot to keep a long-distance relationship going, am I right? Anyway, I'm getting off track. Sorry. Where were we?"


	3. let the shadows fall behind you

Fidgeting with the sleeve of his lab coat, Heinz looked away from Perry the Platypus and towards his brother. Sitting behind his desk, Roger took his glasses off.

"Look, Heinz," he said slowly, folding and unfolding the arms. "I know that what happened to you in Drusslestein was hard, but you have to believe me that I'm sorry."

The hard knot of anger and sadness that had settled in Heinz's chest didn't move, and he glared at his brother. "Why?" he asked again. Tied up in that one word was a thousand questions and he didn't know if he wanted to articulate them all, even if he could.

An unfamiliar look flickered across Roger's face and he stared at his hands for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "I don't know," he said quietly.

The things he had already said ran through Heinz's mind, _not my fault, things have always come easily to me, some things aren't meant to be,_ and sunk to the bottom like rocks in water. Neither of them spoke for a moment and not for the first time in this conversation, he wished a Mind Reading-Inator existed.

His mind flashed back to a conversation he and Charlene had had late in their marriage and he started to repeat what she had told him years ago. "Sorry isn't something you can say once and walk away from. It takes commitment."

His brother laughed mirthlessly. "Charlene?"

"How'd you know?" Heinz asked.

"She was always better at communication than you," came the simple response.

Heinz groaned, remembering what his daughter had said the first time he mentioned his long-standing animosity towards his brother. _I like Uncle Roger._ "Of course," he muttered. "She did keep the last name."

Roger shrugged. "She and Vanessa showed up to the family reunions, and kept in touch."

"And I didn't," Heinz finished the rest of the sentence. "Of course not, Mother hates me."

They stepped into the familiar, decades-old, song and dance and Roger sighed. "She doesn't hate you."

"Yes she does," Heinz responded, the reply as natural as breathing. It wasn't anything he had done, he knew. It was just the way things were. They needed a lawn gnome and he was there, they needed a son to favour and Roger was there. For as much as he despised Roger, he had never felt that way towards his parents. It wasn't them, after all, that had followed him to America. Even if they had tricked him onto the ship, at least they hadn't tried to overshadow his every accomplishment. Not that they acknowledged them in the first place.

"Why?"

Heinz stumbled over the question as the pattern was broken. "What?"

"Why do you think Mother hates you?" Roger asked, putting his glasses to the side on top of the stack of documents.

Heinz shrugged. None of the responses he had practiced rose to the occasion and he struggled to put words to the rationalizations floating around his mind. From by his feet he heard a soft chatter and a paw draped itself over his shoe.

"She just does," he said finally, the response feeling flat.

The words still sat in his mind, _this is the way it is_ , and he sat lower in his seat wondering what the point of this was. For all her determination to bring him here, Mabel had been oddly quiet since she'd stopped talking about her pig. Maybe there wasn't any point. He could walk out of here and leave Roger to being the mayor and nothing would change. The cold anger that filled him at the mention of his brother's name would stay and the knot of emotion in his chest would never unravel. It was strangely comforting, and for a moment he entertained the idea of simply getting up and walking out.

Below him, Perry the Platypus chattered again and Heinz sighed. There was no way he was leaving until a conclusion was reached. He had no idea what that conclusion was, but it definitely hadn't been reached yet.

"I don't hate you." Roger's words disrupted his train of thought, neatly yanking it off its tracks. "Why do you think I followed you to America?"

Heinz shrugged. "To steal my spotlight." The answer was obvious, so obvious he wondered if the question was rhetorical. "It something I did that you hadn't yet."

Pressing his fingertips together, Roger exhaled slowly. "Things come easily to me," he said again. "It's the opposite with you." Heinz refrained from saying anything, looking at Mabel's knitting needle suspiciously. "You're like a firework, Heinz."

Heinz raised an eyebrow, not sure whether to be offended.

"You work so hard at doing well that your moments of success burn incredibly brightly," Roger finished explaining. "It's the opposite with me. It's rather monotonous, skating through life."

"Well, at least you're admitting it," Heinz muttered. "Not all of us get elected mayor two years after changing cities."

"At least you finished college," Roger retorted, before Mabel could say anything.

"What?" His brother, the golden boy, didn't finish college? "How?"

Roger sat back in his seat and sighed. "You weren't supposed to find out," he muttered. "I came to America and when I enrolled in college, I had an incredibly hard time learning English." Sensing Heinz's complaint, he held up a hand. "I dropped out during my second year, and then decided to learn the language so well I wouldn't even have an accent. It took me three years of study to be able to speak this well."

"Oh," was all Heinz could manage. The image of his brother struggling to speak English was one that he couldn't come up with. "Wait, I wasn't supposed to find out?"

Roger didn't answer for a long moment. "I didn't want you to be ashamed of me."

Heinz sat back in his chair. No matter how he assembled the words, they didn't make sense in his mind. Him being ashamed of Roger was something that he had never imagined. Nothing about it would fit together properly. He couldn't stretch the limited relationship they shared to accommodate this new dynamic. It just didn't make sense.

"What are you talking about?" he finally said.

Roger stared at his desk, wondering how to answer the question. It had been one of his most deeply buried sentiments, and over the years he had succeeded in mostly denying it even to himself. "I suppose," he started slowly, "I always admired you. No matter what life threw at you, you always came out on top."

"You do know I lost a poetry contest to a baking soda volcano once," Heinz said dryly.

Roger cracked a smile. "Be that as it may, Heinz, you have a resilience most people can only dream of." From beneath the desk, the platypus sitting beside his brother's chair chattered. "That I can only dream of," he said softly, mostly to himself.

Heinz snorted, fingers worrying the edge of his lab coat. "Is that so, Mr. Successful-at-everything?"

"It's not the same," Roger insisted. Something inside of him cracked a little more at the expression on his brother's face and he gestured to the office around him. "Do you think I asked for all this?"

"Yes." Heinz said pointedly.

"All right, bad example," he sighed. "Still, the point is valid. I've always wanted to live up you, to the strength you have." He fell silent for a moment before continuing. "I don't know why I thought you would know that."

"Well, you're right about that," Heinz said. "I've been trying for thirty years to live up to you." Beside him, Mabel flinched. "I thought that if I had what you have, maybe I would finally be accepted."

Roger closed his eyes, remembering all the days in Drusselstein when their parents had doted on him while they outright ignored Heinz. While he had played with the other children and charmed adults into exclaiming over his manners, his brother had stood outside for hours as a lawn gnome without moving, eventually running away for a few months only to come limping back home with more injuries than before. _Acceptance_. It was all Heinz had ever really wanted, buried beneath his demands for power and wealth.

"...probably wouldn't have been." The whisper was so quiet that at first Roger wondered if he had said it.

Opening his eyes, he saw his brother with the platypus sitting in his lap. Slowly running his hand down its back, he repeated his words. "I probably wouldn't have been." Raising his head, he looked Roger in the eyes, as if daring him to contradict the statement.

Forcing himself to face the truth, Roger exhaled slowly. The truth of their childhood stood starkly in his mind, the veneer stripped away. "No, probably not." It felt like a betrayal to say it, like he was disappointing his parents thousands of miles away by stating what he had always known was true.

Still, something in the air cleared as he said it, a decades-old lie evaporating. No one said anything for a minute, and then Roger spoke again. "I'm sorry."

Heinz glared at him, his eyes red, but something in it held less anger. "For what?"

"Everything."

The word hung in the air between them delicately, waiting for one of them to speak and tip the balance.


	4. we'll shine like the sun

The knot of anger loosened and Heinz swallowed hard, trying to stop the tears. "I'm sorry too," he said. All of the resentment he'd built up towards his brother started to crumble as he looked at Roger for what seemed like the first time.

Instead of seeing someone that had stolen everything from him, taking it all for himself, he looked at a man that had always admired his older brother, even when he couldn't or wouldn't say it, and done his best to live up to the example he had set.

"It wasn't your fault," he admitted.

Across from him, Roger nodded. "Thank you," he said. "It wasn't yours either."

The feeling that rushed through Heinz reminded him of the time he had built the Backstory-Inator. All of the anger and hatred of his childhood memories started to drain out of him until he finally let go of it entirely. It felt peaceful in a strange sort of way to look at his younger brother and see someone who could be a friend instead of an enemy.

"We're not there yet," he mused out loud.

"No, but we're on the right track," Roger said in the same tone. He reached across the desk. "Would you like to try?"

Heinz considered it, turning it over in his mind to examine it from every angle. To his surprise, the usual mental reminders of all the things Roger had done to him were no longer there. "I would," he said, taking his brother's hand.

"Thank you," Roger said again, shaking his hand firmly. "How about we start today? Dinner at my place?"

Sitting back in his chair, Heinz nodded. "I'd like that."

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. It was a strangely comfortable silence, one that Heinz was sure had never been there before. For once, he didn't feel the need to fill the air with words to prevent the silence from pressing uncomfortably on him. There was a soft noise from beside him and he turned to see Mabel tucking her yarn and knitting needles away along with another mostly-finished sweater.

"I'm so proud of you," she said seriously, grinning widely. "Both of you are doing really well." From Heinz's lap, Perry the Platypus chattered and Mabel nodded as if she could understand him perfectly. "He's right. You two should get going; we've got to jet."

Roger looked at his watch, "Goodness, you're right. Heinz, it's after six."

It had taken hours but the walls that had divided him and his brother were finally starting to come down. He hadn't been lying; they weren't gone yet, and forgiveness was still on its way. But there was light at the end of the tunnel, and that was far more then they had walked in with. Heinz stared at Perry the Platypus for a minute before lifting his hand off him. "Thank you," he said quietly, as his nemesis jumped down to the floor.

Turning his head to look at him, Perry the Platypus chattered happily and Heinz was sure he could see a smile on his beak. Following Mabel out of the office, he raised one eyebrow.

"Perry the Platypus is right," he said, standing up. "It's getting late."

Roger stood up, walking with Heinz to the door. "Perry? Are you sure he isn't your pet?"

"He's not my pet."

Pulling the door shut and locking it behind him, Roger smiled. "Why are you wearing a sweater with him on it?"

Scowling, Heinz pulled his lab coat shut. "It's a long story, okay? It's mostly Mabel's fault anyway."

A corner of Roger's mouth turned up in a smile as they reached the main doors of City Hall. "Miss Pines? She's behind that?"

"I'm behind all of this," Mabel said from where she was standing on the steps. "It's all my fault. You're welcome." She smiled, but there was a trace of sadness in it.

"Just one question," Roger said, checking to make sure the doors were locked. "Why did you do this?"

It was so quick he wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't been looking, but twin emotions of sadness and anger flashed across Mabel's face. "Like I said," she said, back to smiling. "I don't want the world to end again."

She walked down the steps and paused at the bottom. "Have a good night," she called before turning down the street and walking away.

Heinz watched until she was out of sight before looking around for Perry the Platypus. Spying him behind a nearby column, he waved surreptitiously to the teal figure. Meeting his eyes, his nemesis saluted him from the shadows.

"Heinz? Are you coming?" Roger asked from the bottom of the steps. Waving one more time in the direction of Perry the Platypus, Heinz walked down the stairs to join his brother.

Walking through the street with his younger brother for the first time he could remember, Heinz felt like laughing. It was a strange feeling, the loss of the anger he'd carried for so long, but it felt better than almost anything had in his entire life.

Watching Heinz and Roger leave together, Perry slipped into the shadows in the direction Mabel had gone. It didn't take long for him to catch up to her and he started walking beside her. Catching her eye, he chattered out a question.

"I told you," she said with a smile. "I did it to stop the end of the world."

Frowning, Perry shook his head, and Mabel smiled wider. "I know." Seeing a park bench, she sat down and patted the seat beside her. "Sit down, Perry."

Jumping up beside her, Perry looked out across Danville Park. Mabel tilted her head back and watched the sun set. After a minute, she began to talk.

"I have great-uncles that remind me a lot of the Doofenshmirtz brothers," she said. "They were twins, and their parents always favoured Grunkle Ford over Stan. Eventually, Grunkle Stan spent thirty years trying to live up to Ford's legacy and it still didn't turn out to be enough." She turned to look at Perry, tears standing in her eyes. "Like I said, it turned out all right in the end, but when I saw Dr. D, I couldn't let the same thing happen again."

Perry nodded. Taking off his hat, he reached into it and passed a tissue to Mabel.

"Thanks, Perry," she said, wiping her eyes. Seeing the look he was giving her, she laughed. "Don't worry, I don't think you'll be out of a job just yet."

Perry raised an eyebrow, inclining his head towards her. Major Monogram wouldn't let his top agent stay with a nemesis that wasn't causing trouble or coming up evil schemes. For all the laxness of O.W.C.A regulations, that was one that was adhered to with absolute strictness.

"Seriously," Mabel said, standing up off the bench. "I have connections, Perry." She winked at him. "No one's reassigning you as long as I have any say about it."

Shrugging, Perry saluted his partner.

"It was fun today," she said. "I'll see you later, Agent P." Taking her grappling hook out of her purse, she aimed it upwards and fired. "Major Monogram was right," she said thoughtfully. "You're totally the best in the business." With a _swoosh_ she was gone, no indication remaining that she had ever stood there.

"Do you think he's lost?" Phineas asked, standing in the driveway.

Behind him, Candace snorted. "No way. He's followed you to Africa and back in case you didn't notice."

"Still," Phineas sighed, staring out into the lengthening shadows. "I wish the little guy was back."

Ferb put a hand on his brother's shoulder, opening his mouth but before he could say anything, there was a familiar chatter from the bottom of the driveway.

"He's back!" Phineas cried, rushing to pick Perry up. "You really scared us, little guy," he said. "Don't do that again."

Settling further into Phineas' arms, Perry chattered again. Snapping her phone shut, Candace walked inside the house. "He's back Mom! You don't need to call the shelter!"

"You know," Ferb said as he and Phineas walked into the house, "Candace is right. He did cross an entire ocean by himself already."


	5. gold don't turn to rust

"So, how was your first assignment?" Dipper asked, turning the invisible jet towards Gravity Falls.

"Totally awesome," Mabel answered, kicking her feet up onto the dashboard. "I wonder if I'll be permanently assigned to Danville?"

Dipper laughed, "Are you sure they could handle you there?" he asked, accelerating the plane towards home.

Mabel winked at him. "Probably not."

Comfortable silence enveloped the cockpit of the jet and Mabel looked out the window, watching the lights of Danville fade in the distance. Something about the city reminded her on Gravity Falls, a spark of the unconventional that attracted people like her family. Maybe too much like her family, if the Doofenshmirtz brothers were any indication. In another life she might have made a home there.

"Do you want it?" Dipper asked, breaking her train of thought.

"What?"

"Permanent assignment," he said, "in Danville." Glancing over at her, he smiled. "It's not a problem if you do."

Mabel shook her head. "No way," she said with a grin. Dipper angled the plane down and the buildings and lights of Gravity Falls came into view. "It was fun, but there's no place like home."

Setting the jet down gently behind Fiddleford's mansion, Dipper raised an eyebrow. "We're not twelve anymore. I'm not going to complain about it if you say yes."

Punching her brother in the arm, Mabel smiled. "I know," she said. "It's true though." Hopping out of the plane, she looked down the hill at the town that had become her home more than anywhere else on Earth. "I'm not leaving here yet," she said.

"If you're sure," Dipper said, coming up beside her and putting an arm over her shoulders. "I don't want to hold you back."

"You won't," Mabel assured him. They stood together in silence for a minute before she snapped her fingers, a thought occurring to her. "Hey, do you know if Grunkle Ford still has his connections in the shadow government?"

"Ford probably _runs_ the shadow government," Dipper laughed. "Why?"

"I need to ask him about job security and benefits for a platypus."

Dipper sighed. "You know, that somehow still isn't in the top twenty weirdest things I've ever heard you say."

 _To Francis Monogram,_

 _Despite what you may hear from other sources, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz does indeed still require a nemesis. Agent Perry the Platypus is highly recommended as his assigned agent, due to his familiarity with Dr. Doofenshmirtz's schemes and backstory._

 _Additionally, owing to Agent P's consistently high performance in field work, it is extremely suggested that he been given a week off with full pay as a reward._

 _Thank you for considering these requests and following up on them promptly._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Stanford Pines (Agent 618)_


End file.
